THE bitterness of death and bitterer scorn Breathes from the broad-leafed aloe-plant whence thou Wast fain to gather for thy bended brow A chaplet by no gentler forehead worn. Grief deep as hell, wrath hardly to be borne, Ploughed up thy soul till round the furrowing plough The strange black soil foamed, as a black beaked prow Bids night-black waves foam where its track has torn. Too faint the phrase for thee that only saith Scorn bitterer than the bitterness of death Pervades the sullen splendor of thy soul, Where hate and pain make war on force and fraud And all the strengths of tyrants; whence un-flawed It keeps this noble heart of hatred whole. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ALL GOATS by ELIZABETH JANE COATSWORTH WHISPERS OF IMMORTALITY by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT THE MOTHER IN THE HOUSE by HERMANN HAGEDORN HUGH SELWYN MAUBERLEY: 5 by EZRA POUND THE CAT OF CATS by WILLIAM BRIGHTY RANDS A SOUL; A STUDY by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI SCURVY ENTERTAINMENT by ABU ABD ALLAH FOOTLIGHT MOTIFS: 1. MRS. VERNON CASTLE by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS BLOUDIE JACKE OF SHREWSBERRIE; THE SHROPSHIRE BLUEBEARD by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM |